Amaro says Phils prepared to be sellers, if they have to

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. pauses during a news conference earlier this week. Amaro said Friday the next few weeks “are important to us,” to determine whether the Phils will attempt to trade away veterans. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

PHILADELPHIA – Ruben Amaro Jr. took a seat in the Phillies’ dugout as the storm clouds descended on Citizens Bank Park Friday afternoon. It was a metaphorical backdrop, considering Amaro’s tenure as general manager sits in the foreboding shadow of his team’s residence in last place in the National League East, even after sweeping the listless Padres this week.

There’s no getting around it: The Phillies are more likely to be sellers than buyers as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline gets closer. Amaro knows it, and although he might not want to discuss it, he knows that $520 million of payroll over three non-winning seasons is career suicide in the sports world.

Still, Amaro isn’t going to act as if the Phillies are contenders when they aren’t. That’s why he says the Phillies are making preparations in case there has to be a fire sale.

“We think about it every day,” Amaro said of the direction the front office needs to take. “We assess it every day, and we’re preparing for how to do those things.

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“It’s not like we’re not preparing. If we have to go backwards to go forward, then we’re prepared to do that.”

Despite their 28-36 record entering the weekend, the Phillies were just 6½ games behind the division-leading Nationals (35-30), who have gotten slightly hot in a division where no team has been good enough to seize control. Interestingly, both wild-card spots in the N.L. were held by East teams — the Braves and Marlins, both of whom were 34-31 entering Friday, 5½ games in front of the Phils.

That, amazingly, gives Amaro and company reason to remain in a holding pattern.

“We’re making sure we know which players we like the most in certain organizations and (are) preparing for that,” he said. “At the same time we’re continuing to assess what our needs are. If we have to go through the transition, we’re preparing and evaluating what our needs are.

“There is not any team out there without any warts. These next several weeks are important to us, because we will find out a lot more about where we stand.”

With Jimmy Rollins’ moment of glory as the Phillies’ career hit king imminent, there is speculation about whether the veteran shortstop will allow Amaro to field calls about his availability by offering a waiver of his full no-trade rights. Rollins is also certainly going to vest his 2015 option for $11 million, although that’s moot since he’d almost certainly demand the final year be guaranteed to OK a trade.

Amaro said he has not asked Rollins or Chase Utley — who also has 10-and-5 no-trade rights — for insight on how they’d feel about being traded.

“If someone comes and says we would like to have Jimmy Rollins or Chase Utley or whatever player out there,” said Amaro, who confessed that some teams have, in fact, already inquired about the middle infielders, “I have to do my job and listen, explore. But the reality of it is it could all be a waste of time because they might not want to go anywhere, and at that time we might not want them to go anywhere either. A lot of it depends on what we want to do, but most of it depends on what they want to do.”

As for his future, Amaro said that he “gets asked pretty much every day” about his job security.

“I don’t have any issues with my own job status,” he said. “I believe in what we do and what I do, and that’s not my decision.”

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Amaro gave updates on several injured players:

• Cliff Lee: The veteran southpaw threw again Friday and Amaro believes that he could be back on the mound in time to make several July starts. That could mean Lee can become trade fodder if the Phillies can’t right the ship.

• Mike Adams: The right-hander received his cortisone shot on his ailing shoulder Friday and could be back on the mound by early July.

• Darin Ruf: The mild fracture in the outfielder/first baseman’s wrist won’t change his timetable. He should be back playing in games around the beginning of next month.

• Freddy Galvis: The utilityman should return from his broken clavicle in late July.

• Miguel Gonzalez: The baffling Cuban right-hander threw a simulated inning and hit 93-94 mph with his fastball. He has been stopped and re-started three times since spring training with shoulder fatigue.

• Jason Marquis: The veteran right-hander, signed to a minor-league contract earlier this month after undergoing “Tommy John” surgery last August, has worked a couple of simulated games and should begin working in minor-league games next month.